Why are cryptocurrencies the future?

[Robespierre_]

Please do be gentle as I'm a total noob with regards to Bitcoin and indeed the inner workings of currency itself.

Over the last twelve months, I've heard numerous figures bill decentralized currency as one of the components that would form a better social environment on an international scale. Max Keiser in particular seems to be particularly supportive of the notion, yet never fully elaborates as to why cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin would be favorable to the way things are now.

What I'm asking is, how would the use of decentralized currencies be preferable to the current system of banking? How would it's mass use make my life better than it is now? Why should we as a people throw our support behind this cause?

Thanks in advance for your answers and helping to educate me on this topic.

 

[LFC_Bitcoin]

Buy & hold.

It may be the best decision you ever make in about 10 years.

You'll be smoking a fat cigar on a beach somewhere with a Russian 25 year old wife.

[1Referee]

Max Keiser is only supporting something for his own benefit.

Several banks have already said that the technology behind Bitcoin is something that can change how we do payments.

It's the blockchain that they are interested in, not so much Bitcoin as coin.

[Robespierre_]

Buy & hold.

It may be the best decision you ever make in about 10 years.

You'll be smoking a fat cigar on a beach somewhere with a Russian 25 year old wife.

My wife may not be a fan of that idea  

I see Bitcoin as a very good way to spend my funds, it sure gives me a ton of entertainment and a chance to actually have something with a bit of value in the future.

Now you asked:
 how would the use of decentralized currencies be preferable to the current system of banking?
 This would cut out Central bank which makes all the policies such as bailing out Big Banks, inflation rate and unlimited printable debt but most importantly keeps the corruption policies at bay.
How would it's mass use make my life better than it is now? You would have cheaper products without the fee's (such as up to $.10 a purchase) and the ability to send money to anyone anywhere without the need of an expensive third party. All the money is 100% proven to be where it is due to the blockchain.
Why should we as a people throw our support behind this cause? Because it stops corruption, kills the unlimited printed money, saves on fees and lets you have control of your money. There is no chance of counterfeit currency which is actually a big problem and everything is accounted for.

Banks currently tell you how and what you can do with your money, such as you can't withdrawal certain amounts without their approval (OF YOUR MONEY) you can't take certain amount of money on a plane, you can't take so much across certain nations.

Crypto is a revolution and one that needs to happen.

Thank you for your helpful reply.

[waxwing]

Please do be gentle as I'm a total noob with regards to Bitcoin and indeed the inner workings of currency itself.

Over the last twelve months, I've heard numerous figures bill decentralized currency as one of the components that would form a better social environment on an international scale. Max Keiser in particular seems to be particularly supportive of the notion, yet never fully elaborates as to why cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin would be favorable to the way things are now.

What I'm asking is, how would the use of decentralized currencies be preferable to the current system of banking? How would it's mass use make my life better than it is now? Why should we as a people throw our support behind this cause?

Thanks in advance for your answers and helping to educate me on this topic.

 

Get it from the source:

"The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that's required to make it work. The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust. Banks must be trusted to hold our money and transfer it electronically, but they lend it out in waves of credit bubbles with barely a fraction in reserve. We have to trust them with our privacy, trust them not to let identity thieves drain our accounts. Their massive overhead costs make micropayments impossible."

http://p2pfoundation.ning.com/forum/topics/bitcoin-open-source

[Mesutalkali]

I also truly believe that cryptocurrencies will change the method of payment in 10 or 20 years. We are part of an unarmed revolution which affects the whole world.

[vm_mpn]

Good presentation of AA in Melbourne but has some commercials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XailzWV-wak

[DannyHamilton]

What I'm asking is, how would the use of decentralized currencies be preferable to the current system of banking? How would it's mass use make my life better than it is now? Why should we as a people throw our support behind this cause?

Bitcoin can't be counterfeit, the cash used by the "current system of banking" can.

Bitcoin allows you to make electronic payments without the need to provide account numbers, or other personal information that can be misused or stolen.

Bitcoin has significantly lower costs for transferring value at this time (it remains to be seen if this will hold true in the future).

Bitcoin has a public and well known inflation schedule for the initial creation of the currency.  After that the supply is inflation proof.

Bitcoin allows you to create backups of the content that is necessary for spending to protect against destruction (fire, flood, tornado, earthquake, etc), it is not possible to create backups of the cash used by the "current system of banking".

Merchants will prefer bitcoin over other forms of electronic payment, because (like cash, and unlike just about any other form of electronic payment) it is not reversible.

Merchants will prefer bitcoin over other forms of electronic payment, because it is much more difficult for the cashiers to "pocket" the revenue (impossible if the merchant sets it up properly).

I'm sure there are many more benefits, these are just the first few that come to mind.

[p2pbucks]

Paper cash is going to extinct in 5~10 years , all fiat currencies will eventually be virtual .
Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are not backed by Gov & central banks , they are backed by math & computers which are more reliable than the former .
The bitcoin price has fall a lot recently , but the rules still the same , people'll finally figure out which is their favorite .

[BIT-Sharon]

The currency system of banking will not offer you a high return, however, the cryptocurrencies can offer you the chance. Besides, the payment by crytocurrencies offers us a lot of  convenience.

[koshgel]

Paper cash is going to extinct in 5~10 years , all fiat currencies will eventually be virtual .
Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are not backed by Gov & central banks , they are backed by math & computers which are more reliable than the former .
The bitcoin price has fall a lot recently , but the rules still the same , people'll finally figure out which is their favorite .

I think 5-10 years is a bit short to call cash extinct but the convenience and ease of cryptocurrencies is hard to deny. Some of the things really holding BTC back are the scams, hacks, and uncertainty. But like every new technology, these kinks will be ironed out before it is widely accepted

[coinits]

The IMF has been calling for a one-world digital currency for years. It is inevitable.

[Lethn]

One of the biggest reasons that Bitcoin is so popular, particularly amongst people calling themselves Anarchists and Libertarians is it allows for trade without borders, this means money can be sent to and from a place without government approval for a very cheap cost ( I take issue with the people who claim it's free, it's always $0.01 or so otherwise miners wouldn't make any money ) it also follows a strict logic of having only 21 million coins ever in circulation which means that no one should ever be able to hyperinflate the currency.

Part of the reason that everyone 'thinks' Bitcoin isn't needed is because they haven't felt the effects of a depression yet, but just wait, when the next stock market crash happens people will be running for the hills and won't give a shit about what Bitcoin is anymore because it will look dramatically stable compared to paper money.

[BreathOfZen]

One of the biggest reasons that Bitcoin is so popular, particularly amongst people calling themselves Anarchists and Libertarians is it allows for trade without borders, this means money can be sent to and from a place without government approval for a very cheap cost ( I take issue with the people who claim it's free, it's always $0.01 or so otherwise miners wouldn't make any money ) it also follows a strict logic of having only 21 million coins ever in circulation which means that no one should ever be able to hyperinflate the currency.

Part of the reason that everyone 'thinks' Bitcoin isn't needed is because they haven't felt the effects of a depression yet, but just wait, when the next stock market crash happens people will be running for the hills and won't give a shit about what Bitcoin is anymore because it will look dramatically stable compared to paper money.

Depressions are deflationary, aka one should expect the USD to go up in value during a deflation.  What you need to think about is "what is a Bitcoin worth regardless of it's exchange value into USD?"

[Lethn]

When you have a deflationary currency everything becomes cheaper, why people are against this is beyond me especially when we keep experiencing what happens with inflationary currencies like the dollar that dramatically jack up food and housing prices is beyond me. No, the USD isn't going up, it's the value of Bitcoin otherwise you would need to sell 100 Bitcoins in order to get 1 Dollar, but then again, lots of people here are proving to me they don't actually know what Inflation and Deflation actually is.

Don't you wonder why we can sell mere fractions of Bitcoin for so much money? It's because they're printing so many dollars that it's become so expensive to buy Bitcoin even with this recent slump just to get some coins. Deflation in a depression is the end game of inflation and it's a good thing, because it's esentially the economy resetting itself back to a stable level but what happens is economists like to panic and claim this is a bad thing and they pump the economy even more causing an even worse crash than before.

[arbitrage001]

Max Keiser is only supporting something for his own benefit.

Several banks have already said that the technology behind Bitcoin is something that can change how we do payments.

It's the blockchain that they are interested in, not so much Bitcoin as coin.

If the blockchain technology is widely adopted by bank, many banks will go bust because end consumers will be able to deal with each other and no need to use them.

[Gleb Gamow]

Good presentation of AA in Melbourne but has some commercials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XailzWV-wak

Look dickface, if I asked it once, I asked it a million times - no links to AA videos. You know goddamn well that I'm addicted to this fuck.  That said, I'm about to share a secret about AA: He's no REAL Star Trek fan. At about the 15m mark, he describes Scotty going into a computer store, picking up a mouse and speaking into it. When you, I and Sheldon fully know that that event took place at Alcoa. 

Brunoism aside, I love this guy, and thanks for the link.

[vm_mpn]

Good presentation of AA in Melbourne but has some commercials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XailzWV-wak

Look dickface, if I asked it once, I asked it a million times - no links to AA videos. You know goddamn well that I'm addicted to this fuck.  That said, I'm about to share a secret about AA: He's no REAL Star Trek fan. At about the 15m mark, he describes Scotty going into a computer store, picking up a mouse and speaking into it. When you, I and Sheldon fully know that that event took place at Alcoa. 

Brunoism aside, I love this guy, and thanks for the link.

Lol Gleb... No problem 

[bitllionaire]

The main reason is that cryptocurrencies are not controlled by any central entitie.

There is not anyone that can control your money, so this is the free way to use money.

[countryfree]

It's been said before that the best thing about BTC is that it's not related to any nation state. Since most countries have bad economic policies, the local currency suffers, something which can't happen with BTC.